Mobile communication systems and devices are in widespread use in most metropolitan regions of the world. In many places, wireless communications service is even being deployed where there is no wired communication service, due to the lower cost of infrastructure equipment. As mobile communications technology has matured, various features and additional services have been added beyond simply circuit-switch radiotelephony. Data services have been added so that subscribers can access information over public wide area networks and wireless local area networks. Personal area networking has been implemented on many mobile communication devices to support wire-free connection to nearby accessories and components.
Lately interest has been focused on increasing the information throughput to and from subscriber devices over wide area wireless mobile networks. One technology that has garnered interest for providing high quality, high capacity service is that specified by the IEEE 802.16e specifications, known as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, or “WiMax.” This wireless technology provides orthogonal frequency division multiple access channels in frequency bands including frequency bands very near frequencies used by other wireless networks, including personal area networks such as that used by IEEE 802.15.1, known more popularly by the tradename “Bluetooth.” While the WiMax technology offers an attractive format for communications and data service, it is expected that it will also be used in devices also using personal area network technology, which is entrenched in the marketplace.
However, the fact that their operating frequency bands may overlap or be near enough to each other to interfere with each other provides a problem. If the wide area network modem is transmitting when the personal area network modem is attempting to receive, the near field strength of the wide area network transmission will prevent reception of the personal area network information. Likewise, if the personal area network transceiver is transmitting when the wide area network transceiver is attempting to receive information from it's present serving base station or conduct neighbor scans, the strength of the personal area transmission may prevent reception of the wide area network information. Such collisions may slow the effective data rate of some data services, and the impact may be acceptable. However, with interest in voice over data, more commonly known as voice over internet protocol (VoIP), such collisions are unacceptable because, whereas low priority data can be retransmitted, real-time information such as voice data must be received with a certain quality of service to assure the integrity of the call. Therefore there is a need for a means by which the two technologies can coexist in a mobile communication device to provide high quality real-time data service while also supporting personal area networking.